I. Field and Purview:
In general, the present invention concerns a snow stop, useful for impeding a sudden avalanche of snow on a pitched roof. In particular, it especially concerns a snow stop that may be affixed to the roof with adhesive. It can have a series of grooves and/or vent holes for assisting in curing the adhesive.
II. Art with Problems:
Various snow guards are known. See, e.g., Clark, U.S. Pat. No. D307,88; Zaleski, U.S. Pat. No. D254,051; Cline et al., U.S. Pat. No. D351,989; Cline, U.S. Pat. No. D364,338; Lee et al., U.S. Pat. No. D364,556; Cline, U.S. Pat. No. D372,421; Cline, U.S. Pat. No. D418,403; Mullane, U.S. Pat. No. D419,863; Zaleski, U.S. Pat. No. 3,296,750; Cline et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,340; Zaleski, U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,659; Kwiatkowski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,979; Smeja et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,799; Cline, U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,185; Kwiatkowski et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,557; Kwiatkowski, U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,334; Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,374; and Smeja et al., 5,901,507. See also, Berger Building Products Corp., “Your One Stop Snow Guard Shop,” electronic catalog, 1997; M. J. Mullane Co., “Cast Snow & Ice Guards,” brochure, and “Snow Guards,” brochure (comparing, www.bronzeguard.com); and Snowjax, Inc., Metal Construction News, Jan. 1993 ad: “A Space Age Snowguard for Metal Roof Surfaces.” Among snow guards, moreover, some are fastened to the roof by adhesives, and some of these are made of plastic. A problem with adhesive-attachment of snow guards to roofs is lack of strength, which can result in failure of the guard to adhere to the roof, especially under a load of snow or ice.
See also, Metal Architecture, August 2001, page 62, ad: “SNOWBLOX.” Note, the '507 citation above, “Smeja et al.,” is a U.S. Patent. Compare, Cline, U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,929; Zaleski, U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,791; McMullen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,182; Smeja et al., U.S, Pat. No. 5,471,799; Negre, U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,552; Corvi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,499; and Francovitch, U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,581. Note also, Wiesener et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,546,676; Donoho, U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,023; Grant, U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,914; and Smeja et al., U.S. Pat. No. D360,476. Note further, Frye, U.S. Pat. No. 2,868,568; and Ruga, U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,220.
It would be desirable to ameliorate or overcome such vexing problems in the art.